Security Council Asks Annan to Go Ahead With Iraq Discussion

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, March 09, 2002

Security Council Asks Annan to Go Ahead With Iraq Discussion

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U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in the US Friday that the U.N. Security Council encouraged him to go ahead with the discussion with Iraq on the possible return of U.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq.

Annan, emerging from the council chamber where he briefed 15 council members on his Thursday talks with Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri behind closed doors, told reporters that "the council generally encourages me to go ahead with the discussions with the Iraqis on the understanding that we are talking on the implementation of the all Security Council resolutions."

"We are focusing on the core issues," he said, referring to the issue of the implementation of Security Council resolutions, particularly the return of the U.N. arms inspectors to Iraq.

Annan and Sabri Thursday ended their first dialogue in a year. The Iraqi foreign minister called the talks "constructive and positive," while Fred Eckhard, Annan's spokesman, said Annan found the talks "frank and useful."

"They focused on core issues, such as the return of the U.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq, Kuwaiti and Iraqi mission persons and the return of Kuwaiti property," the spokesman said after the end of the talks Thursday. "On this last issue, they agreed that a concrete way will be found for Iraq to return some Kuwaiti property through the United Nations."

"The Iraqi side raised a number of specific concerns, such as the lifting of sanctions, no-fly zones and establishment of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East," Eckhard said.

During the one-day talks, the Iraqi side raised a set of concerns, but they need clarification, and will not posed as preconditions for further talks, Annan said. Both sides agreed to resume their talks in mid-April, "without conditions," he said.

The lifting of sanctions on Iraq depends on Baghdad's compliance of the relevant Security Council resolutions, said Annan, who made it a key demand to get U.N. arms inspectors back to Iraq.

The inspectors left Iraq in mid-December 1998, on the eve of a U.S.-British bombing raid, and have not been allowed to return since. The arms experts now want access to determine whether Iraq has abandoned or continued to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

At present, it is premature to say whether the talks succeeds or fails because "we are at the initial stage. We should not claim success, we are at the early beginning, but it's a good start," he added.

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